The WBA World Classifications Committee released the February ranking, which goes from February 6th to March 14th. During that period, the WBA sanctioned 6 world title fights.

The American Keith Thurman was chosen Boxer of the Month, after defeating Danny Garcia on Saturday, March 4th by split decision. Thus he retained his WBA Welterweight Super Championship and was ratified as the best boxer in the category.

Meanwhile, the Honorable Mention was awarded to Kazakh Zhanat Zhakiyanov, who beat American Rau’shee Warren to win the WBA Bantamweight Super Championship. In this way, the organism reduced a monarch in the 118 pounds after eliminating the interim title.

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Garcia and Warren occupy the third place of their respective categories, while the Ecuadorian-German Jack Culcay is the second best classified of the Super Welterweights after losing his title against the American Demetrius Andrade.

WBN Note: At heavyweight, David Haye is no longer ranked in the Top 15 after losing to Tony Bellew via stoppage in London. Haye had been rated at number 6 in the January listings but has work to do in order to be in line for a WBA shot anytime soon.

Shannon Briggs and Fres Oquendo have agreed a deal to fight for the WBA 'regular' heavyweight title in June. The pair had been ordered to face each other as part of the WBA tournament and have moved closer to finally trading blows.

_________________Let's get ready to Rumble in the Jungle when the bells will Jingle to start the Bungle!

NEW YORK – Daniel Jacobs began believing the hype about Gennady Golovkin’s power prior to their fight Saturday night.

“The way you guys made it seem,” Jacobs said early Sunday morning, “it was just like, ‘Man, this guy is really the boogey man. Can he really knock out guys with one shot?’ ”

But once Golovkin hit him with flush punches early in their middleweight title fight at Madison Square Garden, Jacobs realized he could take Golovkin’s best shots and keep trying to implement his game plan. Golovkin dropped Jacobs early in the fourth round after landing back-to-back right hands, but Jacobs got off the seat of his trunks and traded power punches with Golovkin later in that round.

“It wasn’t what everybody made it out to be,” Jacobs said. “I mean, it definitely wasn’t this boogey man, knockout artist that everyone is saying. And even when I got dropped – they said I got pushed a little bit. I mean, I did get hit, but I would have to go back and see it. But I wanted to go trade right there because it really didn’t hurt me. I really didn’t get hurt like I thought if he landed one of those shots, it would be over.” When their 12-round fight actually was over, Golovkin had done enough to defeat Jacobs by unanimous decision and retain his WBA, WBC and IBO middleweight championships. All three judges – Max DeLuca (114-113), Don Trella (115-112) and Steve Weisfeld (115-112) – scored the fight for Golovkin. By going 12 rounds with Golovkin, Jacobs broke the defending champion’s 23-fight knockout streak, which began in November 2008. Jacobs (32-2, 29 KOs) also enhanced his own reputation by boxing well and making their HBO Pay-Per-View main event very competitive against the heavily favored Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs).

_________________Let's get ready to Rumble in the Jungle when the bells will Jingle to start the Bungle!

The 30-year-old Jacobs was convinced after the first hard shot Golovkin landed that he would withstand Golovkin’s vaunted power. “Man, I got hit with an overhand right [on] the back of my ear,” Jacobs said. “And I don’t know if I was down, or what it was. But I just said, ‘OK. This is what we’re working with? OK. It’s not that bad. We can work.’ And as you’ve seen, I showed times where I wanted to go toe-to-toe. And I was [grunting] at him. ‘Let’s go.’ “There’s nothing that he did that stopped me from being confident, stopped me from my game plan. If anything, I just switched southpaw and he showed vulnerability there as well. I’m really happy with my performance. I wanna go back and watch the tape to see, because I’m my biggest critic as well. So I’m really fair, where if I lost, I lost. But in my heart I really felt like I really didn’t lose this fight.”

_________________Let's get ready to Rumble in the Jungle when the bells will Jingle to start the Bungle!

Jacobs also sensed early in their fight that Golovkin would be respectful of his power, something Golovkin hadn’t done against most opponents during that aforementioned knockout streak. “I won’t say he’s the biggest middleweight, but he’s a fair-sized middleweight,” Jacobs said. “And I knew going into the fight that I would be the bigger man. And we out-landed him in punches, we threw more punches. We just, overall, were successful with the game plan. He was a tough fighter. I knew he was gonna come forward. But he showed respect. He didn’t come forward disrespectfully, like he did [with] every other fighter, the 23 guys he’s knocked out. He showed respect and my boxing ability demanded that respect, and also my power. So I’m happy, I’m proud. All I can do is not cry over [spilled] milk.”

While many experts said the outcome of the action-packed fight could have gone either way, some believe the Nicaraguan did better. It was reported that Gonzalez, who suffered his first loss in 47 fights, was upset by the result and seeking a rematch. "I'm a little dinged up. I thought I won the fight. I want an immediate rematch. I want to get my title back," Gonzalez stated. Srisaket said yesterday: "If he wishes to have a rematch, he can have it. I'm ready. However, this depends on negotiations and my bosses."

_________________Let's get ready to Rumble in the Jungle when the bells will Jingle to start the Bungle!

The Thai, who is known in his country as Srisaket Nakornloung, said Gonzalez was the hardest-punching boxer he has ever faced. "But I think my punch is harder," said the Thai who hails from the northeastern province of Si Sa Ket. Srisaket knocked down Gonzalez for an eight count in the opening round. He said that boosted his confidence for the rest of the contest. "I did not think that he would be knocked down because he is probably the No.1 boxer in lighter weight classes. I was very happy,'' said Srisaket, a 14-1 underdog in the eyes of the bookies. Asked in which round he felt he was going to win, Srisaket said: "Every round after he suffered that early eight count."

_________________Let's get ready to Rumble in the Jungle when the bells will Jingle to start the Bungle!

Srisaket (42-4-1, 38KOs) said Gonzalez was a nice guy. "He talked to me before the fight but we did not talk after the fight. It's a pity that I did not take a photo with him after the fight," he said.

Srisaket said he was not intimidated by the packed Madison Square Garden and just tried to imagine the spectators were all supporters of his. "I hope I will have more fights at the venue," said Srisaket, whose real name is Wisaksil Wangek. "I want to return to Thailand as soon as possible. I have not gone out anywhere in New York because the weather is cold. I want to return home and take a rest. As for my next fight, I'm not afraid of anyone." Srisaket is scheduled to arrive in Bangkok today when he is expected to receive a warm welcome from a large number of well-wishers.

_________________Let's get ready to Rumble in the Jungle when the bells will Jingle to start the Bungle!

His parents say they will be at Suvarnabhumi airport to greet their son. Srisaket first won the WBC super-flyweight title in 2013 after beating Japan's Yota Sato. The following year, he lost the crown to Mexico's Carlos Cuadras in his only loss since 2010. Gonzalez became a world champion in his fourth weight division in September after a unanimous-decision victory over Cuadras. Srisaket is Thailand's third current world champion. The other two are WBC minimum-weight stalwart Wanheng Menayothin and Knockout CP Freshmart, who holds the WBA belt in the same weight class.

Last year, there was talk of the two colliding in the fall. Saunders was going to fight on the undercard to Canelo's bout with Liam Smith last September in Texas. Saunders and Canelo's promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, were unable to reach a deal on the opponent.

Saunders was still a prime candidate to fight Canelo in December, but that fell in the wind after Canelo suffered a bad hand injury that ruled out the possibility of fighting for the remainder of 2016.

Saunders is now in line to fight IBF, IBO, WBC, WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) on June 10th in Kazakhstan. But there are also ongoing discussions for Canelo to face Golovkin in September. Canelo would first have to beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at a catch-weight of 164.5-pounds. Canelo's promoters have expressed concern over Golovkin going forward with a fight in June, and they even made mention that a June fight could jeopardize the deal for a September pay-per-view clash with Canelo.

_________________Let's get ready to Rumble in the Jungle when the bells will Jingle to start the Bungle!

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